This course will study some recent critical texts in post-colonial theory, Marxism, feminism, gender studies, cultural studies, psychological approaches to literature, historicism, poetics, narratology, literature and the visual arts and ethics and literature. For the first session each week students will read and discuss relevant selections from the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, and during the second session we will discuss a recent work of criticism on a related topic. Students will be asked to post brief responses to the course texts, to assess our readings in class, and to lead discussion on at least one of the books we read.